Concept of God.

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The following is taken from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna at:

http://www.geocities.com/namoma

 

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

NO ONE CAN LIMIT GOD

 

(From Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, conversations of Sri Ramakrishna recorded

by Sri M.)

 

March 11, 1883.

 

MASTER: " With sincerity and earnestness one can realize God through all

religions. The Vaishnava will realize God, and so will the Saktas, the

Vedantists, and the Brahmos. The Mussalmans and Christians will realize Him

too. All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and sincere.

 

" Some people indulge in quarrels, saying, 'One cannot attain anything unless

one worships our Krishna', or, 'Nothing can be gained without the worship of

Kali, our Divine Mother', or, 'One cannot be saved without accepting the

Christian religion.' This is pure dogmatism. The dogmatist says, 'My

religion alone is true, and the religions of others are false.' This is a

bad attitude. God can be reached by different paths.

 

" Further, some say that God has form and is not formless. Thus they start

quarrelling. A Vaishnava quarrels with a Vedantist.

 

" One can rightly speak of God only after one has seen Him. He who has seen

God knows really and truly that God has form and that He is formless as

well. He has many other aspects that cannot be described.

 

" Once some blind men chanced to come near an animal that someone told them

was an elephant. They were asked what the elephant was like. The blind men

began to feel its body. One of them said the elephant was like a pillar; he

had touched only its leg. Another said it was like a winnowing-fan; he had

touched only its ear. In this way the others, having touched its tail or

belly, gave their different versions of the elephant. Just so, a man who has

seen only one aspect of God limits God to that alone. It is his conviction

that God cannot be anything else.

 

" How can you say that the only truth about God is that He has form? It is

undoubtedly true that God comes down to earth in a human form, as in the

case of Krishna. And it is true as well that God reveals Himself to His

devotees in various forms. But it is also true that God is formless; He is

the Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. He has been described in

the Vedas both as formless and as endowed with form. He is also described

there both as attributeless and as endowed with attributes.

 

" Do you know what I mean? Satchidananda is like an infinite ocean. Intense

cold freezes the water into ice, which floats on the ocean in blocks of

various forms. Likewise, through the cooling influence of bhakti, one sees

forms of God in the ocean of the Absolute. These forms are meant for the

bhaktas, the lovers of God. But when the Sun of Knowledge rises, the ice

melts; it becomes the same water it was before. Water above and water below,

everywhere nothing but water. Therefore a prayer in the Bhagavata says: 'O

Lord, Thou hast form, and Thou art also formless. Thou walkest before us, O

Lord, in the shape of a man; again, Thou hast been described in the Vedas as

beyond words and thought.'

 

" But you may say that for certain devotees God assumes eternal forms. There

are places in the ocean where the ice doesn't melt at all. It assumes the

form of quartz. "

 

KEDAR: " It is said in the Bhagavata that Vyasa asked God's forgiveness for

his three transgressions. He said: 'O Lord, Thou art formless, but I have

thought of Thee in my meditation as endowed with form; Thou art beyond

speech, but I have sung Thee hymns; Thou art the All-pervading Spirit, but I

have made pilgrimages to sacred places. Be gracious, O Lord, and forgive

these three transgressions of mine.' "

 

MASTER: " Yes, God has form and He is formless too. Further, He is beyond

both form and formlessness. No one can limit Him. "